Current Affairs

Fake invoices and an ‘underground bank’: over 21 million seized; 31 people under investigation

The investigation by the Naples Public Prosecutor’s Office and the Financial Police’s Currency Unit involves 16 companies trading in ferrous materials. A scheme involving invoices totalling over 100 million is under scrutiny, whilst 134 million is alleged to have been transferred to foreign accounts. The investigation began following the detection of unusual financial transactions by a Neapolitan hairdresser

by Rome Editorial Staff

22 July 2026

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2' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

Key points

How the system of false invoices worked
The 134 million transferred to foreign accounts
The investigation began with a hairdresser’s social media account

2' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

Preventive seizure of over 21 million euros, 16 companies involved and 31 people under investigation. This is the latest development in the investigation by the Naples Public Prosecutor’s Office and the Financial Police’s Currency Unit into an alleged scheme involving false invoices and money transfers abroad, centred on companies operating in the ferrous metals trade.

The order, issued by the investigating judge at the Court of Naples, targets companies and their legal representatives who are under investigation, on various grounds, for issuing and using invoices relating to non-existent transactions. The companies involved are spread across Campania, where ten are based, Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna, with three companies in each region.

According to investigators, the network is alleged to have produced false invoices totalling over 100 million euros and enabled around 134 million to be transferred abroad.

How the system of false invoices worked

The scheme uncovered in the investigation centres on so-called ‘shell companies’ – businesses with no real operational structure – which are alleged to have issued invoices for non-existent transactions to companies in the ferrous metals sector.

The client companies paid their invoices by bank transfer. The money was then transferred from the paper companies to foreign bank accounts. At the end of the process, the sums were reportedly returned in cash to the companies that had made the transfers, after a commission had been deducted.

The system would thus have enabled companies to obtain undue tax benefits and, at the same time, to have access to untraceable cash. Those in possession of cash, on the other hand, could reintroduce it into the financial system under the guise of legality and transfer it out of Italia.

The 134 million transferred to foreign accounts

The largest share of the money is believed to have ended up in Germany, where transfers totalling 51 million euros have been identified. A further 39 million is believed to have been sent to Ireland, 20 million to China and six million to Denmark.

A further 18 million has been transferred to accounts in Spain, Luxembourg, Bulgaria, Belgium and the Netherlands.

The Public Prosecutor’s Office describes the system as a form of ‘underground banking’, a clandestine banking scheme based on the exchange of bank transfers and cash. The investigation had already led, last January, to the execution of five precautionary measures against individuals from the province of Naples.

The investigation that began with a hairdresser’s social media account

The investigations began at the end of 2024, following the detection of suspicious financial transactions in the bank account of a hairdresser from Naples. These transactions led to asset and financial investigations, technical enquiries and searches.

Further investigations are said to have uncovered a network of shell companies that were formally involved in the trade in ferrous materials but which, according to the investigators, had no actual operational headquarters, resources or staff.

Other factors considered suspicious include the short duration of the business, the discrepancy between the declared sector and the invoiced transactions, and the concentration of commercial dealings with a limited number of counterparties.

The seizure, which may also be carried out in kind, has been ordered to cover the alleged proceeds of the offences, estimated at over 21 million euros. The charges are currently at the preliminary investigation stage and will need to be verified during the proceedings

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